The Magpies want to swoop for Derby’s Will Hughes.
Newcastle United are preparing a £10m bid to land Derby County midfielder Will Hughes – who also has Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City and Barcelona tracking him – reports the Mirror.
The 18-year-old starlet has been making a big name for himself with the Rams and after being called up to Stuart Pearce’s England under-21s squad, Newcastle have decided now is the time to sign the wonderkid.
In a stunning season for the teenager it was reported before Christmas that Barca had been compiling a detailed dossier on Hughes and the Nou Camp started to look like a distinct possibility.
Therefore Magpies manager Alan Pardew knows that his window of opportunity to sign the Derby youngster will be extremely small and that he will need to act fast.
Despite not turning 18 until April 2013, Hughes made 35 league appearances for the Rams this campaign with 33 of those being in the starting XI.
The midfielder’s boss Nigel Clough has put a lot of faith in the young star and knows that it is highly likely a Premier League side will make a move for his prized possession this summer.
Newcastle believe they have the edge in convincing Derby to sell to them as not only are they prepared to offer more than double of the club’s valuation of £4m for Hughes, but would also loan the youngster straight back to Pride Park for the 2013/14 campaign.
Securing the signature of the under-21 would act as a significant scoop for Pardew, who runs the risk of losing several of his key players at St James’ Park before next season after the Magpies struggled in the league this year and briefly faced relegation.
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